


The Day Before

by Demigod2405



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Other, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 13:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demigod2405/pseuds/Demigod2405
Summary: At Fifteen years old, Klaus gets a baby left on his doorstep with a DNA test stating that it's his.Scared of what his father would do to the baby, he and Ben escape the Academy in the night and strike out on their own.Twelve years later, one of Klaus' friends died in birth and left their son with him.Three years later, he is now raising his two sons with Ben when a news report comes on.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 9
Kudos: 106





	1. Vinnies' Day

It was about to rain, he noticed.

The clouds on the horizon were getting darker and darker as the hours passed and he hope that it was going to wait until tonight at least. He wanted to either be curled up under a blanket or outside dancing in it. It was one of his favourite things to do at the moment, Benji enjoyed it too. At least he enjoyed watching daddy dance. Often time it was too cold for him to join daddy in the rain, daddy didn’t want him caching a cold. It was easy to be happy around daddy. Benji enjoyed cooking with daddy and reading with Uncle Ben while he enjoyed playing music with Uncle Ben and dress up with daddy. It was great living in their family he thought – it was always fun and daddy really cared for him and Benji. Even though Daddy and Uncle Ben often argued about things they never really fought like the shiny people in the TV. He was happy about that, he didn’t want to have to choose between daddy and Uncle Ben like that girl at school.

Speaking of school, it was about to end. The teacher came over to their table and told them to clean their art away, he huffed – daddy always told him that mess was a good sign of creative people. And creative people are crazy people and crazy people are good people – as daddy said. Uncle Ben was more uptight but he was still happy and was silly when he or Benji asked him to be. He did as he was asked though and put all the extra stuff away in the labels drawers and boxes – like daddy taught him. He didn’t let the teacher take him drawing though, that was going to go to daddy. Daddy always put his and Benjis’ artwork on the wall of the living room, it was almost full by now but daddy had said that he would just move onto the next wall.

Everyone else rushed past him towards the door and their parents but he lingered at the back and waited. It took a few minutes but he soon heard the click click of his daddys’ heels coming down the hall. His daddy still had his pretty pink diner outfit with the tickly white lace on the apron that always made Benji itchy. A huge pair of shiny black heels were on daddys’ feet and made him loud when he walked, he loved them. He ran up to his daddy and got picked up immediately and spun around while he laughed. He loved when daddy picked him up. A big lipstick mark was left on his cheek, daddy was wearing a festive orange today, even if it was more pinkie orange than orangey red. It still made him really pretty. Daddy led him down the hall while he told daddy all about the day he had had. About the girl who got glue in her hair and then dunked her hands in the glitter tub, about the boy who ate the Legos and had to be taken to the nurse and about the boy that just sat in the corner all day with a book in his face. He asked his daddy what he could do to make that boy happier and his daddy suggested sitting down with him tomorrow and talking to him, finding out what he enjoyed. That way you can make him happy with what he likes. He nodded his head – that made sense.

It wasn’t long before they reached home and he heard Uncle Bens’ piano music coming through the apartment door. Once daddy unlocked it, he rushed inside and saw Uncle Ben sitting behind his piano with Benji sitting on the rug next to him bobbing along. Uncle Ben paused when he saw him and smiled softly, reaching out towards him to pick him up and place him on his lap. He loved it up here and would always bug Uncle Ben almost every night for this. Benji loved it too but he didn’t like sitting on anyone’s lap. Daddy said that that was ok though and to respect his brothers autonomy. He was ok with that and he was more than happy to take Benjis’ turn on Uncle Bens and daddies laps. It was a few moments before the music started up but it was beautiful, like Uncle Bens’ music always was, and he could hear daddy puttering about in the kitchen – he was most likely making his afterschool sandwich. He always had a fluffernutter sandwich after school, daddy made him brush his teeth afterwards but he didn’t mind. Uncle Ben had told him that his Uncle Five had favoured this sandwich and he appreciated it more after that. He was right in his hope, daddy soon came over with his princess jasmine plate holding his fluffernutter sandwich, no crusts and into neat little squares. Daddy got him. He did make him brush his teeth afterwards but he was used to that by now so it wasn’t that bad anymore.

After his sandwich he sat down on the rug next to Benji and laid his homework out on the coffee table. That reminded him of the picture he made in class for daddy. He raced for the coat rack by the door and grabbed his Minnie mouse backpack from its hook. He wrestled the paper from it and slung it back on the hook before racing into daddy’s bedroom and jumping on the bed. His daddy just rolled his eyes at him and smiled. He had changed out of his diner dress and was now wearing a shiny red and purple robe covered in pretty blue and pink flowers. It was a silky thing that reached down to his knees and was always slipping off his shoulder but he loved it. He stopped bouncing long enough to shove his picture towards daddy. His daddy gave him a huge smile and took the picture from him, rising from his vanity stool and making his way into the living room, taking a pin from the pot on the windowsill and pining the picture up in the top left corner of the wall. The wall was completely full now and he felt proud as he sat back down at the table and got started on his homework. His daddy always painted before dinner while Uncle Ben read book after book – he seemed happy though. Benji always watched daddy paint and sometimes helped him with his homework when he got stuck. It was a good system they had going on.

It was about an hour later when he finished his homework and Uncle Ben gave him a princess book to read with him. He got sucked into the story and didn’t really know how long passed before a nice smell reached his nose and he saw daddy in the kitchen stirring something. He had pink paint in his hair but his arms were clean and he had dirty dishes in the sink waiting to be cleaned – so he didn’t worry about eating paint. He finished his book and put it away before joining Benji in front of the TV. Benji liked watching the animal planet channel and the history channel so that’s what he sat down on the couch and watched. Uncle Ben finished his book and put it away before moving to the kitchen to help daddy with dinner. He hoped it was curry, it smelled like curry – he liked daddies curry. It was spicy but it didn’t hurt like that pepper James gave him at day-care. He liked his chair as well, daddy had painted a white wooden chair to look like a ‘glitter explosion’ as per Uncle Bens’ inspection. He loved that inspection. He was right in his guess of curry, a plate of curry and rice was placed in front of him and he thanked daddy before digging in. Benji talked to daddy about his school projects and his grade. He didn’t want to go to high school if it was as bad as Benji said it was – it sounded like he wouldn’t be happy very often.

The TV providing background noise very suddenly shut off and a new reporter came on. Daddy suddenly went very still as did Uncle Ben. Daddy put his fork down and got up to move closer to the TV. He noticed that daddy started biting his nails and was shaking ever so slightly. Uncle Ben joined him and wrapped his arms around daddy and started whispering to him, too low for him and Benji to hear. Benji seemed to understand what was happening because he picked all their plates up and put them over by the sink before picking him up and taking into his room. He did ask what was wrong but Benji didn’t tell him, just shaking his head and helping him into his Pyjamas. Once in bed, he didn’t fall asleep – instead he laid awake and listened to daddy and Uncle Ben talk. Someone named Hargreaves had died and now daddy was freaking out about the funeral. He wondered why daddy was freaking out so much. He was asking if Benji could look after him for a few days while daddy and Uncle Ben went to the funeral. He wondered why the funeral was going to be days long but he didn’t want to upset daddy any more than he already was. So he resolved to just be quite about it.

He hoped that daddy was going to be ok.


	2. More and More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I promised to put more info in another story and er....
> 
> this went on a tangent of it's own. 
> 
> So enjoy!

Klaus had gone out when he was fifteen and high as hell. He didn’t really remember much of that night, or day, or week. But he defiantly remembered the day Grace walked into his room with a baby carrier and give the baby to him. He had pulled the torn piece of paper from the carrier and saw the DNA test stating him as the biological father. He had been so excited and had immediately taken the baby to Ben, proclaiming the babies name to be Benji after ‘the best uncle in the world’. Him and Ben had gone down to the library and researched babies as much as he could, they had wondered out loud if the baby would have powers like them. Klaus still sometimes wished that they hadn’t spoken that out loud and given their father standing in the doorway ideas. Reginald hadn’t said anything but she had given this small little smirk that had sent shivers down Klaus’ spine. Klaus had looked at Ben after Reginald had left and then looked at Benji. They knew that Reginald would experiment on the baby if given the chance – they couldn’t give him that chance. They had gone to Vanya that night and told her their plan. She had been hesitant to help them but had agreed to play her violin longer and louder than normal to cover their escape. Klaus took a duffel bag and stolen as many things as he could. Small expensive things, that he can get a lot of and get a lot of money from. Ben took two duffel bags and put his and Klaus’ clothes into both of them. Neither of them had any clothes for the baby yet. Klaus convinced Diego to scope out a cheap apartment on his nightly vigilante route. He came back with three options about an hour away. Good enough for now so they finished packing and waited for Vanya to start playing. She started after about an hour and they forced Ben’s window open and climbed out with the baby strapped to Klaus’ chest. They hit up the pawn shop first and got about £600 for the lot. They took it and got on the nest bus to the apartment Diego found. They got their in the suggested hour and paid £150 for a week, setting up in the room and Klaus washed Benji in the tub while Ben took £50 and went out to get supplies for the baby. The next day, Ben stayed with Benji while Klaus went to find work, forcing his withdrawals down into himself to not blow the interviews. He eventually got a job as a waitress at a local diner and he started the next day. The third day, Ben had a lot more luck than him. A café was merging with the next door library and needed more staff to help accommodate. The older gentleman that used to run the library but was now too old and moving into a nursing home, had taken a shine to Ben and had been empathetic when Ben explained that he was helping his brother and nephew get out of an abusive household. The old man had offered Ben the apartment above the library that used to be his, he offered to cut the rent in half but that the half still needed would come out of Bens’ wages. Ben had agreed immediately and told Klaus the good news. With Klaus’ wages, the pawn money and the fact that given the diner was right across the road – no travel expense – it would be a tight but doable and worth it.

Reginald had tried to get Klaus and Ben back to the Academy after about a month. It seemed to finally click with him that Klaus and Ben were not coming back to the Academy. He really didn’t like losing two more of his experiments so for some reason he decided to send Vanya over to find them and try to bring them back. It made sense, Vanya was closest to both of them so they guessed that Reginald thought they’d come back to support her in the Academy. The only issue was that once she had found them and their little apartment, she took one look and asked if any other apartments were up for rent. Klaus and Ben were more than happy to hear that and pulled their couch out for her to stay on. They called the academy on Allison’s bedroom phone and asked Diego to pack Vanyas’ things into as little bags as he could and bring them over to them with him. He readily agreed and was knocking on their apartment door the next night with Vanyas’ ‘casual’ clothes and her violin. He also brought over some books that Ben had missed and some clothes that Klaus missed. While Diego didn’t show any interest in joining them in the apartment building, he did show some interest in the police academy a few blocks away. Klaus was ecstatic that another sibling was getting out Reginald’s’ hold and was more than happy to help get Diego over to the academy and enrolled – lying about his age of course. Diego got in very easily and Klaus was very proud of his brother, breaking out a fancy bottle of wine with waffles from the diner to celebrate. It was about a month later, after a month of working at the diner, that Vanya got a job teaching violin to kids. It gave her enough money that after a few more months, Vanya moved out of Klaus and Bens’ apartment and into one of her own a few floors down. She still came over almost every day when Benji was still young and shortened her visits as he got older until he hit his teens and her visits got to once a week. Wine and whine weekend was very popular in their house now.

The lil baby narrator is 3 years old, loves anything sparkly and is called Vinnie (After Vanya). He loves that she lives in the same apartment building and frequently comes over to teach him and Benji how to make Pirozhki, which she described as Russian comfort food. After Klaus nagged Vanya and Ben into taking a DNA test with him and they found out their nationalities – German, Japanese and Russian respectively – they all wanted to learn more about their heritage. Klaus decided to start with fashion and make-up, Ben started with the language and literature while Vanya started with the food. Specifically the comfort food. Everyone had favorites for her to make; Vinnies’ is the Pirozhki, Which can be baked or fried, savory or sweet, often made from either puff pastry dough to fried dough and stuffed with a variety of flavours ranging from potatoes to cherries. Benjis’ was Borscht, a beet soup jam-packed with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, celery, tomato and sometimes meat served with a dollop of sour cream and dill along with toasted dark rye bread to soak up the remainder of the soup. Bens’ was Salat Olivye, it contains boiled potatoes, dill pickles, peas, eggs, carrots and a boiled meat (chicken or beef) dressed with mayonnaise. Klaus’ was Okroshka, a cold soup containing boiled meat or bologna, radish, cucumbers, scallions, boiled potatoes and eggs and is served with dill and sour cream. Vanyas’ however was Medovik, a super sweet honey cake, traditionally layered with thick sour cream, Vanya had also tried it with condensed milk, custard and dried fruit but found she favoured buttercream and walnuts the best. Vinnie liked to ‘try’ and teach his best friend in day-care Jenny. Vinnie and Jenny are both very hyper when they get together and they very often give the teacher grey hairs. The only teacher they don’t give grey hairs is the art teacher. Vinnie leads the artistic movement in his class and it makes Klaus very proud. As Vinnies mother was an artist and approves of Vinnies artwork that Klaus loves to display for her whenever she floats through the apartment. Klaus met Vinnies mother Charlotte in an AA meeting. She was an ex-dancer that got away from an abusive EX and wanted off the drugs he got her on. Klaus talked to her about his own journey under an abusive father and got her a job at the diner as a cashier. The constant chatter and movement helped her like it helped him. They got talking and when Ben brought Benji in after school, she fell in love with the little boy. She got back in touch with her brother after Klaus spoke of how he missed Five and how thankful he was to still have Ben, Diego and Vanya. Her brother had three kids himself and was happy to share his knowledge with Klaus and Ben. It helped a lot when Benji started with childhood stubbornness. Ben remarked that it wasn’t as bad as Klaus was at that age, Klaus had shoved Ben into the sofa. Charlie had been a very good friend for about ten years when she announced that she and her boyfriend – James - were trying for a pregnancy. Klaus had broke out a bottle of champagne stating that it would be the last time she could drink. Klaus took care of her during the pregnancy using the knowledge that Iris taught him. It was tragic when, at 7 months, James was called off overseas with the army. When Charlie went into labor, Klaus called the ambulance but ended up skyping Iris and doing his best with Ben to deliver the baby before the ambulance got there. Given the method of delivery, Charlie tore and died due to blood loss. It wasn’t all bad though, her ghost often floated in and out watching over her son. He found out later that while James was overseas, he wanted Klaus to be the childs’ guardian. It was a year before Klaus got the message that James was now officially M.I.A and because of that, Vinnie was left to Klaus.

Seeing how happy Charlie was when she met Benji, gave Klaus the motivation he needed to try and search out Benjis’ biological mother. He still had the DNA test Benji had been left with that stated the mothers’ identity but it had been scratched and worn out over time. So, after work one day, he walked him-self down to the hospital with the DNA test and asked if the ID number could be looked up and the mothers’ identity revealed. It cost him a pretty penny but he managed to get the mothers’ identity after a few days. Iris Fran, she was only a few years older than him and had a contact number listed with her hospital profile. It took him almost a month to work up the courage to call her and explain who he was. She had almost put the phone down on him but he had quickly told her that Benji had started school and she seemed to hesitate. Klaus had continued in that fashion, telling Iris everything about Benji he could think of. Favorite animal (Spider Monkey) favorite colour (green) Favorite food (Ice cream sandwiches) anything and everything. Once he was done, there passed a very tense silence before his laptop dinged with a Skype request. He readily agreed and was greeted with a women, with Benjis’ eyes and his nose. Iris Fran. He talked to her a little while longer and managed to get a smile and even a little laugh out of her, he was very proud of himself for that one. It was about three Skype dates later that she met Benji for the first time. He had heard him talking in the other room and wandered in to see what was happening. Klaus had smiled and him, then at Iris, and picked him up to sit him on Klaus’ lap. Iris had frozen then started crying and no amount of condolences from Klaus helped. Iris kept crying for about 5 minutes before slowing down and laughing before waving at them. Benji have waved back and Iris let a sigh escape. She and Benji had continued to talk for a good few hours. They kept doing that almost every week. It slotted into place with the ‘grown ups’ wine and whine weekend. When they drank and talked about work, Benji stole Klaus’s laptop and sat in his room to Skype his mother. It was revealed that Iris was currently in Florida with her now fiancé, so she asked of their address and started coming to take Benji out every other weekend. It was nice for Benji to have another female influence in his life, other than Auntie V and sometime Klaus. Benji had taken to Klaus very quickly. Once he was about 6 he had asked why Klaus wore skirts and make-up when he was a boy. Klaus had sat Benji down and talked him through Gender and Sexuality as best he could. Benji hadn’t said anything and had wondered off into his room so Klaus had thought he failed but the next morning, when he went to wake Benji up – Benji had wrapped his arms around Klaus’ shoulders and asked ‘are you Mama, Papa or Mapa today?’ Klaus had smiled all day long. Iris less so. She thought that Benji was too young to know such thing and it had led to them not talking to each other for a while. He still let her around Benji but he didn’t personally talk to her if he didn’t have to. It lasted about a month before Ben smacked Klaus around the head and told him to grow up. Him and Iris had spent an entire evening talking – and sometime yelling – it through. They had reached an agreement and moved on. She was still there for Benji and that was the most important thing to Klaus.

At the point of the story, Benji is 15 and takes right after his Uncle Ben - who he is very proud to be named after. He is looking towards animal science as a life path and has straight A's in school. He really wanted a spider monkey as a pet for a long time but Klaus had been firm in saying he had to wait until he moved out to get one. Ben is nudging his prodigy towards vet school and then a Zoo as the on call vet. Klaus had pointed out that as a selective mute it might be incredibly difficult for him to get through the school. Benji normally signs to communicate with others but what if the people or the keepers don’t know sign? Klaus didn’t want to upset his son but he wanted his son to see the world how it was and the struggles that would come. Even though he did this, Klaus still made sure to teach Benji to Keep Going. Keep pushing and don’t let nay sayers stop him. Recognize the obstacles, then work around them. Or maybe, even knock them down entirely. Benji was still a very sweet boy, listening to those around him and liked to help when possible. Vinnie was a huge thing for Benji. Often times Vinnie talked enough for both of them but Klaus knew that Benji was often saving his words so he could read Vinnie his bed time story each night. Benji was exceptionally happy to have a baby brother. Ben thinks that if they had been closer in age it would not have been as close but because of the twelve year difference they get along a lot more. It was Vinnie that had convinced Benji to get a boyfriend. Alex Buckler was a basketball player with a passion for math and computers. They had met when Benji was pulled by his friends to attend a school basketball game. Alex accidentally thrown the ball into the crowd and it had smacked Benji in the face. Alex won the game then went to apologize to Benji. They started talking (Alex didn’t know sign at that point but was more than happy asking yes or no questions. It was later that Benji found out that Alex was learning sign language for him. It was this that sparked their first kiss) and exchanged numbers. It was Vinnie who got Benji texting with Alex and they just – didn’t stop. Alex took Benji on dates whenever his schedule allowed it and Klaus was over the moon. Vanya had invited the boy round for Borscht and had given her seal of approval. Ben was next, he had sat down next to Alex in the library and talked to him. Ben said that when Alex realized that he was talking to the man Benji was named after he had ‘sat ramrod straight! Seriously Klaus, like he in the freaking army or something. Like any little bend of his spine would cause punishment!’ It was two hours later that Ben returned home with his seal of approval. Klaus was last, and the one Alex was the most nervous about. He had told Benji ‘your parent means so much to you. What if I screw up?’ Alex couldn’t screw up as it seemed. Klaus had welcomed him with a hug and Baby Pictures. Yes – capital letters intended. Benji had let out a whine but collapsed next to his, ‘Mr Hargreaves, oh honey it’s Miss today if you don’t mind’, Mama and subjected himself to the Pictures. Klaus had given Benji the condom lesson very soon after that. Benji had gone red and groaned throughout it but when putting laundry away, Klaus noticed the box of condoms he had put there were now open and down a few. He smiled. Klaus knew from experience that trying to get a teenager not to do something, often only made them want to do it more. So he just made it safer, instead of no sex - he preached safe and consensual sex, instead of no alcohol – he gave it to Benji in his own home where he could watch and limit how much Benji drank. He kept Benji stocked on condoms until Benjis’ allowance came about and then he took Benji down to the pharmacy and showed him where to get them and what to watch for. He also pulled Alex aside the next time he was over and taught him the same – Alex nodded along and agreed to the points Klaus made, although he did thank him for the extra ‘watch out for’ tips. He was confident in his teachings and when he came home early the next week and heard the tell all noises, he simply shut him-self in his room and stuck his headphones on.

It was during one of his visits that Alex revealed that his mother was the CEO of a publishing company and they needed a new editor and Ben had leap at the chance. He liked to focus on promoting POC books and LGBT books and the company picked up on that. They started sending him a lot of books by POC or featuring POC and he was very happy. They also paid him like triple what the library did so he left there to focus on this new job. He will sometimes help out in the library sometimes when and where they needed him but that was only a few times a week. It got even rarer after Vinnie was born, Ben choosing to stay home with Vinnie more often while Klaus worked longer hours to help accommodate another mouth to feed. Benji was mid middle school at this point and they trusted him to make his way on the bus to and from school. He had a list in his phone of responses to common questions asked and to scenarios he hopefully would never experience, just in case he needed to ‘talk’ to an adult staff member. It worked very well for them and they started having extra money to put into savings. Those saving got larger after Klaus got promoted. He was being paid the same as his long shift for working a shorter shift. This gave him an extra few hours in the day to paint. Klaus was down onto only weed now. He used it to keep the worst of the ghosts away from him. Leaving ‘nicer’ ghosts, like Vinnies mother’, to pop into their apartment every now and again. Klaus liked to paint these ghosts, often giving them a hazy background to get their spirituality across more obviously. A common one was old couples coming into the diner, visiting the place they spend their youth and wandering around hand in hand. Klaus liked those days. He had stayed behind at the Diner one night, a night Vanya was coming over, to paint the couple that had come in that day. He had new ‘thing’ he liked doing. He drawing the old couple in a scene, (sipping a milkshake, leaning against the jukebox) then talking to them and, based on their descriptions of each other, adding their younger selves into the same scene. Doris, the lady that ran the Diner, had seen one of these paintings and had hung it on the wall on the Diner. Klaus had watched in amazement as the couples spirits had cried at the painting and then faded away from this realm. The night in question he had been painting a lovely old black couple by the jukebox and the door had blown open from the rain outside and by the dripping wet person down staining the floor. Klaus had gotten the man a towel and a mug of tea, only to return to the man offering to buy the paintings on the wall of the old couples. Klaus had refused but had offered some of his other work. The man had been enamored and offered Klaus a partnership. His name was Nick Guy and he ran in a lot of the art world circles. Whenever Klaus painted something, if he wanted to sell it, he send it to Nick, nick ran it through his circles and then gave Klaus 90% of the profit. It made the Hargreaves family nest grow quite large. Klaus had started putting a lot of it into a separate nest for Benjis’ further education and if Vinnie kept going the way he did, Klaus reasoned another egg would be appropriate to fund an art school education. Speaking of nests, Vinnie loved eggs, to the point that a reward for him was going to the diner after his achievement and getting dyed pink eggs and a pink lemonade with curly straw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might add another chapter with more if i think of more.  
let me know what you think!


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